


No Me Without You

by deanmoxbrose



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Car Accidents, Love Confessions, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 04:01:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2837309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deanmoxbrose/pseuds/deanmoxbrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Cass is in an accident and hospitalized, and Enzo has a revelation about his feelings for his best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Me Without You

**Author's Note:**

> an anon on tumblr mentioned "person A just got in a car accident and person B just heard about it and rushes to the hospital" and i ended up with this. i can only hope the sweet anon likes this, because i'm very uncertain of it myself -- i normally don't write this sort of thing, i'm far too hooked on silly fluff and happy pieces. i did not go to any lengths to research hospital stays apart from what i experienced the one and only time i was hospitalized, so i'm sure if you know a lot about that sort of thing, this might not be your thing. but i hope those who read it enjoy it!

It was just a normal night. He was about to have an after dinner snack — yogurt with protein powder mixed in, how you doin’? — and the Xbox was calling his name for some quick matches before bed. Well, maybe just one. He wanted an early start at the gym the next day after all.

And then his phone rang. And the ID said it was Carmella.

He puffed up a little. She never called him. Was she alright? Was she trapped somewhere and needing a ride? He knew he was her last resort but still, he allowed himself some time to feel smug about it. How could he not?

He answered, “Me oh my, sweet —”

“Enzo.” She sounded serious. Not annoyed like he’d come to expect. He hesitated. Heard her take a slow breath. “It’s Cass.”

His first thought was ‘ _No it’s not, I clearly recognize your voice, Mella, c’mon_.’ But then he realized. He grabbed the edge of the counter for support, the gears in his brain working furiously as he tried to take in the gravity of those two simple words. 

He swallowed against a dry throat. “Where?”

 

*

 

It was just Cass’ luck for this to happen, wasn’t it? An accident that had been the other driver’s fault, a head injury, and a doctor uncertain of when the patient would wake up. 

When he’d first seen Cass in the hospital bed, hooked up to those machines with that bandage around his head, his knees had gone weak and his head had gone light. Carmella’s hand had been on his elbow, clutching so tightly that his whole arm had gone numb, but he’d been grateful for the touch. Grateful to have something to focus on other than the sight in front of him.

But after staring at Cass for so long now, Enzo could have almost laughed. Maybe it was some type of hysteria setting in — that was the word, right? hysteria — but seeing a dude almost seven feet tall tucked into a hospital bed was hilarious. Christ, the guy’s feet were practically hanging off the end. When he woke up he would laugh about it too, Enzo was sure.

Carmella inhaled deeply, the sudden movement nearly making Enzo start. The two had been standing on either side of the bed, unmoving, ever since they’d been left alone in the room. He looked across Cass at her, and she looked across Cass at him. Her face wasn’t as hard as it usually was when she looked at him — there was a particular softness to her eyes. It was weird. 

One of the corners of her mouth came up, a look meant to comfort him. He returned it. Or tried to, at least. 

When the nurse came in and told them they had to leave, it was Carmella who spoke up first. 

“What d’you mean we gotta go?” she demanded, fire returning to her eyes. 

“Visiting hours are over for friends —” the nurse tried.

Enzo opened his mouth. “But —”

“We aren’t friends. We’re family.” Carmella crossed her arms and cocked a hip out, her expression daring the nurse to tell her otherwise. 

And tell her otherwise, the nurse did. 

Fifteen minutes later and three blocks away, Enzo and Carmella were sitting outside a convenience store, forgotten coffee cooling in the cup holders of the console between them. The radio was on, but it was weird to Enzo’s ears — like the speakers were underwater and the sound was muffled. He didn’t even know if it was playing music, commercials, or talk radio.

He looked down at the snack he’d grabbed inside. Supreme Protein Rocky Road Brownie Bar. That was a mouthful. Cass would dare him to say it five times fast. He’d try and fail miserably because he never learned. He sighed.

Glancing at Carmella, he held out the bar he’d taken two small bites of. She barely looked his way and shook her head. “Tastes like cardboard anyway,” he mumbled, wrapping it back up and dropping it in his lap. 

They sat. The coffee cooled more. 

“He’ll be alright,” Carmella said suddenly. She kinda scoffed and gave a humorless little laugh, shaking her head. “He’ll be fine.” 

Enzo didn’t know if the words were more for his benefit or hers, but he was glad she’d said it. He willed himself to believe it. 

 

*

 

“Is that thing even workin’ or what?”

“What thing?”

“That thing in his nose. How do we know it’s givin’ him air?”

“Don’t mess with it, Enzo.” 

“Ain’t these numbers supposed to be higher? Maybe it’s not givin’ him enough?” Enzo tapped at the screen of one of the machines, the glowing numbers rising and falling and changing constantly.

“They’d come in and fix it if there was something wrong,” Carmella reassured him. 

She and he had both come to stop on either side of Cass where he was propped against the pillows, the cannula hooked around his ears and _supposedly_ giving him enough oxygen. Enzo’s eyes went back to the numbers on the machine, then to the cannula. He wanted to pull it out of Cass’ nose to check it — just for a split second, just to make sure it was working — but he wasn’t a complete idiot. He shoved his hands into his pockets to quell the urge. 

Carmella leaned over Cass, bringing her ear close to his nose and mouth, and she listened. She looked up at Enzo and nodded. “It’s workin’ right.”

“How d’you know? You go to med school before you became a hairdresser?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s workin’,” she repeated. 

He ducked his head a little sheepishly and nodded. That hadn’t been fair of him.

As she straightened, her gaze returned to Cass, and her expression lost some of its tension. Slowly, she let her fingers trail down the side of Cass’ face, and a strange spike of something like jealousy pierced Enzo. He frowned, not knowing where that had come from. With a sigh, she turned and crossed the room to the chair they’d buried under all the crap they’d brought with them, and she started digging through her purse. 

Enzo made sure she was busy and not watching him, and to make himself feel better, he reached over and ghosted his fingertips along the line of Cass’ jaw. The warmth of Cass’ skin was more reassuring than he’d thought it would be, so he did it again, slower this time. Maybe Cass would feel his touch and wake up to swat him away. 

He didn’t. 

Enzo reclaimed his hand, folding his arms over his chest and glancing towards Carmella. She was facing him, but reading something on her phone. He hoped she hadn’t noticed. 

 

* 

 

Carmella couldn’t be with him all the time, but she came when she could. Enzo wasn’t sure whether he preferred being alone with Cass or not — the silence, broken only by the sounds of the machines around them, was enough to drive him up the wall. So on the third day of him being without Carmella, he started talking to Cass. Anything to fill that silence.

He’d brought a magazine with him, one of those _Muscle and Fitness_ gigs, so he read some of the articles aloud to Cass. Ended them with things like, “Who didn’t already know that, am I right?” or “Ain’t that a crock?” After the first few, his eyes kept darting over to his unconscious friend, but when there was no change, he slumped in the chair and made himself stop looking.

It hurt too much to keep looking only to see the same thing.

Flipping to a picture, he snorted and folded back the pages before turning it to show it off. “Look at this meathead,” he said. “What a wannabe.” 

The door opened and Carmella slipped inside. He quickly slammed the magazine shut and sat up in the chair, running his fingers through his loose hair and trying to look as casual as he could. Like always when she arrived, the first thing she did was look at Cass. Her shoulders fell very slightly as she turned away, and she shrugged out of her coat and tossed it onto the chair that had become the dump for all their personal belongings. 

He couldn’t say anything. He always hoped to see Cass awake too when he came into the room. 

“You alright?” she asked, her eyebrows arching. She gestured to his legs and he realized he was bouncing both knees impatiently where he sat. “You’re doing the jig — you gotta go?” She gestured to the open door of the bathroom.

“I’m fine,” he said, shaking his head and shrugging at the same time. But he did have to go. Badly. It was just that the thought of leaving Cass, even for just a few minutes, when he already got a limited time there, was something he really didn’t want to do. 

“Just go.”

“I need to be here when he wakes up.”

“Well, I don’t think he’d appreciate wakin’ up to find you sitting in wet pants like some kinda child. _Go_ ,Enzo,” she said, gesturing to the bathroom again, this time with the air of an impatient mother dealing with a stubborn child. 

“We’re not allowed to use that bathroom.”

“Yes we are.”

“Who told you that?”

“Who told you we couldn’t?” 

And that settled that argument.

At Carmella’s insistence, he shut the bathroom door all the way instead of leaving it open like he’d intended, and then he rushed through the motions. But as he was washing his hands, he glanced in the mirror and found himself hesitating. This all felt surreal. He looked like himself, sounded like himself when he talked, but he didn’t _feel_ like himself. He felt like he was dreaming. Like he was the unconscious one just waiting to wake up.

How long was this going to go on? What if… no, he wouldn’t think about that. He couldn’t.

As he came out of the bathroom — eyes going first to Cass only to see there was no change in him — he found that Carmella had taken his seat. She held one of Cass’ hands in both of hers, the size difference would have been hilarious any other time, and she glanced up to give Enzo another one of those strained half-smiles that he was sure were for his benefit. She mumbled something indistinct, not to Enzo, but to Cass, and then she stood up. 

It made Enzo feel better that she talked to him too.

 

*

 

Some of the others sent (and kept sending more) flowers and cards and balloons and silly little stuffed animals, and Enzo would never admit that they made _him_ feel better. It brightened up the room, made it feel a little warmer, and somehow, it gave him more hope about Cass waking up. 

Even if Carmella liked to nag him about remembering to change the water in the flower vases when she wasn’t around.

He was returning one such vase to the table beside Cass’ bed after refilling it with fresh water when it happened. He glanced down at Cass’ placid face and realized, all too suddenly, that he loved him. He set the vase down, put his hands on his hips, and stared at Cass. Yeah, he _loved_ him. But not just that, because let’s face it, he had loved Cass since the day they’d first met — that was just how their relationship had always been — but this was different. _Love_ love. And it was such a simple and abrupt epiphany that Enzo didn’t know how to feel about it. 

Wasn’t this sort of thing supposed to happen gradually over time? Didn’t people fall in love nice and slow? Or maybe he’d always felt this way and just hadn’t realized it — it explained why he never felt the need to date. Frankly, it explained a lot. Maybe subconsciously he’d always felt like he and Cass were already together. 

If he’d realized sooner, he could have told Cass. Let him know how much he meant to him before… before this all happened. What if he never got the chance to tell him now?

Glad to be alone, he took his place in the chair beside the bed, and doing what Carmella had done, he took one of Cass’ hands in both of his. Cass’ fingers didn’t move in the slightest, not a single twitch, but the warmth of his skin put him at ease. Enzo traced his thumbs up and down the back of Cass’ hand, watching Cass’ face as he tried to collect the thoughts swimming in a head that felt murky and abyssal.

“You gotta wake up soon,” he said. The mechanical sounds of the machines around him were the only response he got. He sighed and dropped his gaze. Kept Cass’ hand in his. “I dunno what I’d do if you didn’t, Cass, I…. You gotta know, man. You gotta know there’s no me without you. I shouldn’t have to tell ya.” 

Another glance up at Cass’ face. Back at Cass’ hand. 

“I’ll tell ya,” he murmured, nodding to himself. “You wake up, big guy, and I promise I’ll tell ya.”

And then, without any thought to the motion, he brought Cass’ hand up to his mouth and brushed his lips across his knuckles. As if on cue, like she had been summoned, the door opened and Carmella came into the room. Enzo quickly brought Cass’ hand back down to the mattress, though he didn’t let go of it, and he kept his gaze averted as Carmella hesitated in the doorway. 

His brain yelled at him to say something, to give her some little quip that would make the moment less awkward than it was, but there was nothing. He couldn’t think of even one word. The only words hovering in his throat and threatening to come out were, ‘Why won’t he just wake up?’ and ‘What am I supposed to do?’ Questions he’d been wanting to ask her since it’d happened, truthfully, but he didn’t want to hear whatever answers she could give — even the nicest, most gentle one wouldn’t be what he wanted to hear. 

Carmella came to stand next to his chair. “Hey,” she said softly. 

“Hey.”

The silence stretched on for what felt like hours. And suddenly, she was threading her fingers through the mohawk that he hadn’t styled in days. It was a soft touch, reassuring, and she stroked his scalp like she were petting a cat. 

Enzo took a slow, deep breath through his nose, ignoring the lump that had formed in his throat. He didn’t need to say anything — she knew. And he knew she knew. 

They didn’t speak for the rest of their visit. 

 

*

 

Days spent at the hospital can feel like years. Enzo lost track of time, though he was sure it’d been less than a week. It was just that every second spent with Cass unconscious seemed to drag on and last an eternity. Neither Enzo nor Carmella were getting any sleep now, trying to adapt to their new schedules — at least, sleep that wasn’t stolen in batches of power naps in the hospital room. 

Like tonight. Carmella was curled up in the chair where they kept their stuff, huddled under both her and Enzo’s jackets, breathing soft and shallow. Enzo was in the chair beside Cass, his designated seat basically, and he was hunched forward with his elbows on the mattress and his head in his hands. He had his eyes closed, was letting the sounds around him lull him. It seemed like he’d been there for so long and it was all becoming normal to him — the sounds, the sights, the smells. 

He was just starting to drift off when…

“ _Enzo_?”

His head snapped up and his eyes bulged out of his skull, no longer heavy and tired. It was Cass — he was awake! Blinking a few times as his eyes adjusted to the lighting in the room Cass looked around in confusion, his bleary eyes finally settling on Enzo’s wide ones. He didn’t look the way Enzo might have feared — like he had amnesia or was in any way _changed_. In fact, he looked the exact same as he usually did after waking up from a nap. This nap just so happened to have lasted a bit longer than it should have.

“What —?” Cass started to ask, his voice like sandpaper.

Enzo didn’t give him a chance to finish. Jumping to his feet, he threw his arms around Cass and latched on. One of Cass’ arms came up weakly, a hand hesitantly patting Enzo’s back, and Enzo let out a string of curses in Cass’ ear. He was _awake_ , he was _okay_.

And suddenly, “Ow.”

Enzo lurched back, hands going up defensively. “What? What’s the matter? What do you need?”

A lazy little smile curved Cass’ mouth and he croaked out, “You were pulling my hair, bro.” 

Enzo laughed. It was the sound of unadulterated relief, bubbling freely out of him, and he couldn’t stop it — hysteria, right? And as he laughed, his eyes watered, and he realized that he was actually a lot closer to crying. Cass was awake. He was okay. 

Remembering that they weren’t alone, he hurriedly swatted at his eyes, batting away unshed tears while he pretended merely to be wiping sleep from his eyes. Then he turned to face the chair where Carmella slept, barking out her name.

She jerked herself awake, throwing their coats to the floor, and her alarmed eyes went first to Enzo, and then past him to Cass. She was on her feet in a flash, flying to the bed to give Cass a hug of her own. She was a lot more gentle than Enzo had been, cautious of Cass’ bandaged head, and when she pulled back, she was beaming. Practically glowing. 

“Tell me this ain’t a dream,” she said.

“Nope, we’re wide awake and so is he,” Enzo said, going to smack Cass’ shoulder in his excitement but thinking better of it at the last minute. 

“The nurse,” she said. “I’ll get the nurse.”

And before you could say ‘sweet potato pie’ she’d dashed out of the room. 

Enzo turned back to Cass, but Cass was looking around again. “We’re in the hospital?” he asked groggily, clearly trying to piece together Enzo and Carmella’s words with the room he was in. 

“Yeah, you dope,” Enzo said affectionately, perching on the mattress as close to Cass as he could get. He wanted to touch him — comb his fingers through his hair from where it poked out under the bandage, grab his hand, cup his face — but he folded his hands in his lap and contained himself. It wasn’t easy, but he did it.

“Are you okay?” 

“Am I okay, he says. Am _I_ okay?” Enzo scoffed. “You’re the one who nearly died. You don’t remember?”

Cass considered, opened his mouth.

“It don’t matter,” Enzo said quickly. “Nothing matters right now except you bein’ okay. You are okay, right?” 

“I feel like I got hit by a Mack truck,” Cass said. He hesitated, then gave a weak grin and said, “Oh yeah, ‘cause I did.” 

Enzo’s eyes were watering again. He hoped they wouldn’t do that every time he laughed from now on. He shook his head, grinning so wide it hurt his face, and he said, “Christ, I never thought I’d see something so beautiful in my life.”

“Beautiful? How long was I out?” Cass teased. 

“Robots rule the world and we have two moons now.”

A fatigued chuckle. “Bet Bayley’s happy.”

The door slammed open again, making both Cass and Enzo flinch, and Carmella zipped into the room. The nurse on her heels looked harried, but managed a genuine smile when they saw Cass awake. They hurried over and began fussing over Cass, and Enzo and Carmella gave them space — they needed to let the nurse make sure everything was alright, right? 

She looked at Enzo, and he looked at her. With the smallest quirk to her lips, she bumped Enzo’s elbow with her own. And when he bumped hers back, her smile grew. 

 

*

 

Cass was lucky. 

No, that was an understatement. Cass was a freaking miracle. Had he remained unconscious for very much longer, things could have been worse. He could have been… different. As it was, he was just a bit banged up, a little loopy from the drugs, and _a lot_ exhausted. You know, like he _hadn’t_ been sleeping for days on end. 

On the day of his discharge, as they crossed the parking lot to Enzo’s car, Carmella and Enzo fluttered around on either side of him, making sure he was okay. Cass was wearing some clothes that Enzo’d brought him — a shirt that was too tight, sweats that were too short — but other than that, he looked totally normal. Especially compared to them. Enzo babbled about all the people who’d sent Cass things as he crammed said things into his trunk, all the people who’d tried to stop by but hadn’t been able to, and Carmella rambled about how she was only a phone call away if Cass needed her for anything, that she would drop everything and come for whatever he wanted, that if Enzo wasn’t taking proper care of him, she would. 

“A guy could get used to this,” Cass said as Carmella rushed to pull open the passenger side door for him. 

She placed her hands on her hips and gave him a skeptical look that made him laugh. It was a sound that Enzo had almost thought he’d never get to hear again — all he could do was just stand there at the trunk of the car and watch as Cass and Carmella embraced, a small smile on his face. And then Carmella was coming towards him and he hesitated, not knowing what to expect. She hugged him too. Actually hugged him.

“Want me to follow you guys?” she asked when she pulled back.

“Nah, we’ll be fine.”

She smiled. “Yeah.”

And though they looked at each other for only a moment longer, something passed between them. Understanding. She turned to look at Cass, then back at Enzo with something a little closer to slyness in her look, and with a wave to the both of them, made her way to her own car. 

“Bet you’re ready to get outta here, yeah bro?” Enzo said.

Cass shrugged and looked at the building with a feigned thoughtful look. “I could stay. Barely got to try any of that hospital food.”

“Man, get in the car.”

Cass laughed and laughed like he was the funniest bastard in the world. And Enzo cherished it. 

The ride started off quiet, and as he drove, Enzo kept glancing sideways at Cass to check on him. Cass was tense, with a hand on the dashboard and his jaw clenched slightly, and Enzo felt like a right jackass. He hadn’t even considered what it would be like for Cass to get back in a car.

“D’you want me to go slower? We could stop somewhere?”

“No. Just, uh, just talk to me, Zo.”

“About what?”

“Anything.”

Enzo floundered. Searched his mind for something — anything — to say. He blurted out, “They’re finin’ Dalembert. From the Knicks. Fifteen freakin’ K, how you doin’? He almost got suspended instead, though, so I guess it’s lucky — elbowed one of the Raptors’ players in the face. Says he didn’t mean it. Ain’t that what they always say?” He gave a little chuckle and shook his head. Glanced at Cass and hurried on, “So there was like ten minutes left in the third quarter when it happened….”

He didn’t stop talking until they’d reached Cass’ place. When Enzo had finished talking about the Knicks-Raptors game, he simply segued into another story, and then another. By the time he was parking, Cass had relaxed in the passenger seat, and had even started to respond to the parts of Enzo’s stories that he was supposed to. 

“Thanks,” Cass said. A little awkwardly, he added, “For the ride, I mean.”

But Enzo knew what he was being thanked for. He smiled. “Don’t mention it, big guy.”

“You comin’ in?”

“Uh, _obviously_.” Enzo rolled his eyes.

“Don’t ‘obviously’ me.” Cass mimicked the eye roll with a smirk, and he turned to reach for the door to get out.

The words left Enzo before he could stop them. “Hey, uh, wait a minute.”

Cass looked back at him, his eyebrows going together. Enzo took in a deep breath and looked away, feeling so very stupid, and he scratched the back of his head as he mulled over his thoughts. He’d promised, though, hadn’t he? He’d promised to tell Cass what he felt. 

“I’m glad you’re alright,” he started. Closed his eyes and grimaced at the horrible start. 

“Yeah, me too —”

“No, _listen_. This is — this is important, man, okay?” 

Cass sat back in the seat, relaxing, and he nodded. Encouraged Enzo to continue.

“I don’t know what I woulda done if… ya know. You and me, Cass? I can’t imagine not havin’ you around, can’t stand the thought of it — makes me feel sick.” He sighed and shook his head — he hadn’t thought it would be this difficult. “And all this made me realize, for the first time, how easy it would be to lose you.”

“Enzo,” Cass said like he wanted to argue, but he didn’t continue. 

“I need you to know that, uh… that I…” he trailed off, mumbling the last part.

“You what?” 

Enzo grumped and rolled his eyes again. “I love you, alright? Like — like _that_. Love love.” 

Cass didn’t respond. Enzo hunched his shoulders, keeping his head ducked, and he inwardly scolded himself. He shouldn’t have said anything, he should have just kept it to himself. And though his neck was hot and red with his embarrassment, he could feel Cass’ eyes burning into him, and he couldn’t help but look up. 

There was a little smile on Cass’ face. Not a teasing one, but a warm one. Tender, even. And as their gazes met, Cass said, “I was wonderin’ if you’d ever get the balls to say anything. Was hopin’ it’d be more eloquent.”

“You _knew_?”

“Of course I knew, you idiot.” Cass smacked him in the chest.

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Enzo sputtered, wide-eyed.

“Why didn’t _you_?” 

And well, Enzo couldn’t argue with that. 

“I heard you, too, you know,” Cass went on. “Not all of it, but snippets of stuff… like a radio station fading in and out of focus.”

“What’d you hear?”

“That there ain’t no you without me. You said that, right?”

Enzo flushed again, but nodded. 

Cass’ smile returned. “Good. There better not be any you without me, ‘cause there definitely ain’t a Big Cass without his Enzo.” And as he finished saying that, he turned and opened the door.

“Wait, where’re ya goin’? We’re havin’ a heart-to-heart here, man.” 

“I haven’t been home in like a week, I wanna go inside.” 

“What about all your stuff? The cards —”

“I’ll get it later. Look, in case you aren’t catchin’ my drift here, it’s not exactly my ‘Get Well’ gifts that I care about in this instant.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Get inside, Zo. I’ll explain there.” 

“We _are_ inside — we’re in a car,” Enzo said defiantly, gesturing to the steering wheel.

Cass’ only response was a roll of his eyes as he got out, leaving Enzo no choice but to follow. And follow Enzo did — he always would. Because there wasn’t an Enzo with his Cass.


End file.
